Deception
by Elle Steinig
Summary: A young boy is enrolled into the dignified Ouran High School, seeking protection from his past.
1. Reality

Chp 1

Chp 1

A young man, around the age of fifteen or sixteen or so, wandered down the Ouran High School hallways aimlessly. He fingered his black bangs and swiftly swept them to the left, attempting to relocate the strands of hair so they were out of his grey eyes, as they were impairing his vision. They flopped back into his eyes and he just glared ahead.

Instead of paying mind to the environment around him, he concentrated on smaller things like the way his khaki cargo shorts brushed against his knee every time he bent it forward or the warmth he felt when he buried his hands deep inside his jacket pockets. These small things comforted him. He subconsciously curled and uncurled his toes inside his shoes rhythmically to meet the same beat he was chewing his gum. Anything that would keep him out of the real world and wrapped in his thoughts was appreciated.

"Move it, dick weed." a voice boomed after its owner had successfully knocked the boy down onto his hands and knees. 'Ding, ding, ding, you have now arrived to reality!' he thought, mocking a game show, his voice thick with charisma.

Reality was no fun. Here, the world was a dark and grimy place where murder and rape happened. In fantasy and fiction, there were so many possibilities. In these stories the same cruel things could occur; Rape and murder were possibilities as well. However, they would be balanced out by love or a wonderful story. These were the fantasies that the over-imaginative boy thought of. A reverse world where it was all "art" or a "story" , no matter the situations. Reality was just harsh. No art to it.

He only gazed at the retreating muscular back with a sulky expression plastered on his face outwardly. "Isn't this joint supposed to be high-class?" This was only one of the incoherent phrases and grumbled to himself while he clumsily staggered back on two feet. A stinging sensation brought his attention to his hands. Tattered and scraped, blood oozed from them slowly. He wrinkled his nose and examined the rest of his body. Sure enough, his fragile looking knees were showing the same symptoms. A "tch" sound emitted from his throat and he wiped his hands on his clothed thighs.

"Today is just dandy, isn't it?" he said to himself only. No one else was present at the moment to hear him anyways. Every single cattle-resembling student had made their way through the hallways already and had successfully found their way to their assigned classrooms.

The boy wasn't normally this grouchy. No, he wasn't the perfect model for being bubbly either but he definitely wasn't this sour. He thought back at what had taken him to this position in his life.

_Jimmy was hurt. I was angry and immature. The person who had hurt him was smug. So, I attacked. For Jimmy. For me. For everything I ever stood for. I tried to barrel through his stomachs with my hands. Unsuccessfully. He had ended up pinning me to the ground, lighting a flame to my neck. To my collar bone. To my chest. To my rib cage. To my belly button. To my hip bone…….._

He stopped myself from continuing and put my signature smile on my face. "Anne said this was the best idea to get away. She must be right." He said, assuring himself the best he could. He still couldn't help but switch his gaze nervously behind his shoulder a couple of times.

He shook his head and scurried off to his first class, making sure to find the correct room number. He was very bad with directions so when the scary woman in the front office with the tacky pendants had given him a map and pointed to multiple squares on it, he had gotten quite confused.

Reluctantly, he opened the door with the heading "879 – history" and peeked his head in.

Here he saw a classroom filled with various students, all perched elegantly in their seat and chatting quietly amongst themselves. No sensei seemed to be present. He rolled his eyes when a student noticed his presence and waved a smile visible. 'Some one has an awful lot of gusto for greeting a new student of whom he doesn't like' He thought grimly.

"I assume you're Dai-san." The boy said to him. He responded with a head nod. "Nice to meet you."

--


	2. Smiles

Chp 2

Chp 2

"Dai-san, welcome to Ouran." said the charismatic, bespectacled boy. I just give him a blank stare. This was all an act and I was very aware of it. Probably _too _aware of it, if I thought about it logically. I had been deceived so many times by inviting smiles, that it wasn't even funny. Scratch that, I think it is quite humorous. The thought of so many deceived people brings a light chuckle up my throat.

I've come to realize that ninety percent of smiles are faux. Sure, they are pleasing to the eyes and they can easily fool the majority, but nothing more then petty lies. I am sad to say that I am quite the liar. Very rarely do I ever smile for myself or because I am sincerely happy, but it makes life easier. There's not the constant "Dai-san, are you okay?" fluttering around me, the pests they are. So, yes, I tug my lips in an upward direction for my benefit, whether it's heartless or not.

"However pleased I may be that I've gotten the opportunity to meet you, I'm afraid to inform you that you have entered the second year's subdivision. I believe you're looking for those rooms. " He said, that treacherous smirk never leaving his face as he pointed down the hallway.

If I'm blatantly honest, this kid is quite the looker, however intimidating he is. But, then again, who isn't attractive at Ouran? I haven't seen one person walk by me who wasn't beautiful. I sigh, on the inside, of course, miserably. I will never truly fit in here, and I know it just fine.

"Oh? Dai-san isn't a second year?" A girl from behind him says, her mouth forming the shape of an "o". I shake my head. "Glasses-sama is correct. I'm a first year. Why?" I pry further, just because I'd rather talk to people then head off to class.

"My name is Kyouya. Kyouya Ootori." He said. I guess the nickname "glasses-sama" didn't fit his tastes. The girl turned back to me after previously directing her attention to Glasses-sama when he spoke.

"I don't know. I guess maybe I was just hoping that I'd be your classmate." She said. Afterwards, she placed a hand over her mouth a giggled; a few other girls doing the same. I unconsciously took a step back as I shifted my gaze to the side and rubbed my nose, a nervous habit. "Uh…." I said awkwardly, taking another step backwards. "That's very…comforting." I said, fixating another fake grin on my face. "Glasses-sama, would you please educate me on where I should be?"

I realize that I called him "Glasses-sama" again but, in all honesty, I really don't care whether this bothers him or not. I can't remember what he told me to address him and the nickname I've supplied him with is much easier.

He nods at me, sending a slight glare in my direction, and walks through the doorframe, striding down the hallway. 'I guess I'm supposed to follow him or something.' I think and I shuffle my way behind him as he leads me down the maze-like hallways. The walk isn't far, but my nose is already burning from the floral smelling aroma that fills the school. I am unsure how I will be able to face a whole day under these circumstances, let alone year.

I let out an agonized moan and sigh, venting out the stress. Kyouya turns around and gives me a look that says "control yourself.". As soon as he turns his back to continue on our journey I stick out my tongue at him, childishly.

I've always been known for being kid-like in situations where I'm upset. Jimmy would say "Dai-chan, you're like a 2 year old at some points and a cankerous 50 year old at others." and then poke my cheeks when I blushed. My face contorted at the memory.

"Dai-san, we have arrived" Kyouya stated as he tapped my shoulder, dragging me back to reality. "Thanks." I murmur while making my way through the doorframe, my gaze fixated on the floor.

"Sensei, this is Dai Aomori. He is the new student at Ouran." Kyouya tells the salt and pepper haired man who merely grunts. I lift my head for a second so I can take direction from the man.

"Take your seat." He grunts, giving me a long, stern stare that make me want to slide my head and limbs into my large hoodie and sit in the feedle position, like I used to.

This hoodie had been with me since I was about ten. My older brother had given it to me after I had confessed that I was bisexual. I smiled at the memory.

"_T-taro…" I practically whispered as I creaked open the white painted door just enough so that I could peek inside. I saw my eldest brother sitting on his bed, guitar in his lap, eyes on me. He sensed my stress and set the guitar down, walking over to the door in one stride. _

"_What's the matter, Dai? Come in?" Ah, the ever-kind Taro that I had grown to love. It was Taro that I could tell anything to, Taro who would smile generously at you and tell you words of wisdom, no matter what crime you had done, from stealing a cookie out of the cookie jar to accidentally killing a bird. _

_The 17 year old ushered me inside the cramped bedroom and sat me down on his bed. Although I knew I was talking to Taro, not my judgmental other brothers, I was still nervous. Afraid that he would no longer accept me. _

"_T-aro…I…think I like boys." I said, my eyes watering. "I…don't know, really. It's all so confusing." Tears trickled down my face, and the longer he was silent the more I broke on the inside. The ever-kind Taro just stared at me in shock. Not a word uttered out of his mouth and this fact killed me. I knew I should have just been normal and ignored what my body was doing. I ran out of the room, all the way to the park a couple blocks down and climbed up the tree. I waited there for hours and eventually fell asleep. _

_Then, when the morning came around and the light shone in my lidded eyes, I awoke to my brother, sitting there next to me in the tree, sleeping. In his lap was a grey material. Curious, I shook him awake and he smile that amazing smile at me. "Mornin'." He murmured. "What're you doin' here, Taro? Shouldn' you be tellin' on me for being a queer?" I asked solemnly. Taro shook his head. "Silly boy, I'm not angry that you're this way! And what is there to tell on?" he said, ruffled me hair, and handed me the fabric that was previously on his lap. _

"_Here. I got it for you. I Didn't mean to make you cry." He informed me. I smiled so brightly that moment that I thought I would explode. "Come on. My ass is asleep." He said and stiffly hopped out of the tree. I did the same and we headed back home. _

I felt my face tighten into a smile and then into an expression of pain. My other family had not been so accepting and kind with my new status. They mocked and hit me, my brothers did. My sisters would no longer speak to me. My parents would send me shameful glances, as if they were disappointed .The worst part, was that the next month, Taro moved away to college. He was so intelligent that he left his junior year. I frowned deeply, lines appearing on my face.

"Young man, do as you're told." Sensei scolded, and I realized I had ignored his demand. My eyes widened and I clumsily scooted over to my seat and listened to the murmurs surrounding me.

A sigh escaped my lips as I dwelled on the past, that deceiving smile on my face as I did.


	3. Idiocy

When you think too much about things, everything becomes something to worry over

When you think too much about things, everything becomes something to worry over. When you're able to consider all sorts of possibilities, suddenly slight changes appear in the variables that might help to better predict the outcome become something that feels necessary to watch out for. It's easy to become fixated on these ever-changing details and even easier to obsess over the possibilities, particularly the negative ones.

The better the ability to comprehend the possibilities and how details impact the entirety, aka the greater the potential of the mind, the more paranoid the individual becomes and the less socially apt.

So using the mind becomes a source of stress and can thereby be seen as undesirable.

That's not fair.

In the end, idiotic people are happy, while intelligent ones are not. That's the way of life and it easily explains so many situations in life.

For example, this idiot in front of me, Souh was it? He simply oozed happiness and joy, yet, he was so, so blatantly stupid. I gave him a "wtf" look but it was unnoticed by the dope. He continued gushing on about how the proper man should act in a proper manor and help women_ properly_. His words; Not mine. I didn't think that someone would use the same word repeatedly in such a short time spam at Ouran. I was obviously incorrect in my assumptions.

I was currently situated in the cafeteria. I thought that this room might be some where around the concept of "normal", but of course it wasn't. I think the person who structured and decorated this school made it just to spite me. The wallpaper had many intricate details in its swirly pattern, all colored in a golden color. An almost salmon-like pink fabric was used for the table cloths, and paint for the plentiful amount of window sill. Frills made a perimeter around the edge of the ceiling and a large, golden chandelier was placed above each table. The china and table wear was , no doubt, the finest porcelain and silver around.

'What a poor use of budget." I mumbled, eyeing the décor surrounding me. They could have easily spent the money on more important things, like hiring Sensei's who actually taught or appeared in the classroom once in a while. I recalled the previous event of today, where I had entered Glasses-sama's class and no adult was present.

The moment I walked into the unexpectedly calm and ordered lunchroom I dragged my gaze across the room until I spotted a completely unoccupied table. Thankful for my good luck, I did a quick victory fist before skipping over to the vacant seating arrangement and plopped my oversized backpack on the clothed wood. I then made my way to the lunch line, expecting sloppy joes and those disgusting tater tots, but not all too upset by it. School food didn't taste _that _bad, as long as you thought of other things while you nourished yourself. The meal I was expecting came precisely, only it was equipped with a strawberry milk carton as well.

Still quite chipper for no apparent reason, I hurried back to my dearest table. On my way, however, I was inconvenienced by someone's discarded tray, tossed carelessly by it's original owner. It just so happened to be placed in my trail and I ended up slipping on it, falling on my butt. Naturally, my food would come down with me and I was well aware of this, considering it was positioned all over my body. I heard laughter echo through the large room and was given the wonderful gift of _more _of this wonderful sloppy joe being courteously dumped on my head. The malicious giggles grew louder, to my misfortune. I looked up to see that same bulky back from before, retreating from me once again. This guy insisted on giving me a hard time, didn't he?

I sighed angrily as a clump of the saucy meat dribbled down from my head to my eye and I was forced to wipe it away. I no longer felt the happiness I earlier had. Instead, the frustration and a tinge of hurt filled me up again. I glared at anything in sight; children around me, the walls, a light bulb, a crying baby, and of course a frolicking bunny were some of the victims of my furious glances. After a while, the milk was beginning to pool around me and dampen my shorts so I heaved myself off the floor and went to the table I had once held so closely to my heart.

Unfortunately for me, a bunch of young men were all seated at _my_ table, conversing and eating at _my _table, resting their elbows on _my _table. An animalistic growl emitted from my throat as I stomped over to the location. As I neared, I saw that my seat was still empty. 'At least they had saved it, right?' I thought but instantly kicked the optimistic person inside of me several times while chanting "stfu!" to it simultaneously. Mr. Optimism whimpered and crawled back to the hole of which he came and I was left alone in peace to anguish over the loss of my solitude. 'Much better.' I thought.

I sat down slowly, my joints feeling stiff from the fall. I was ignored. My eyebrows furrowed further, not liking the idea of being so out casted. I coughed loudly, hoping to catch the attention of the invading teens. My antics were not in vein because a set of twins whom of which I had seen last block in my chemistry class droned out a bored "Who're you?". The chit chat amongst the boys ceased after that comment and they all turned their head to give me expectant stares.

"Jose Enchilada." I respond after several blinks on my side. The blonde of the group shot his hand in the air while shouting "Wonderful to meet you , Enchilada-san!". The amber colored twins began to laugh at the teen next to them, making comments on his stupidity through their chortled chuckles.

After they had settled down, a short brunette peeped out a girlish "Why are you covered in meat?". His tone of voice caught me off guard but I didn't show it, not wanting to hurt his feelings. He probably had some sort of condition.

"Well, I thought that it tasted so delicious that I figured it'd be a wonderful lotion as well." I replied to the boy, a blank face. I wondered if I could fool him into thinking I was being truthful. Sure enough, he gave me an odd look before saying "That's strange."

I couldn't help myself; I began to snicker at his obliviousness to my sarcasm. It wasn't like I was making fun of him, just…making fun _with _ him. I'll let you ponder on how that theory is justified.

That's when the blonde began to holler the nonsense about "the proper actions of a gentleman." and how he , Tamaki Souh, would not permit me laughing at the disabled brunette. After about two minutes, his rambling no longer held my attention so I redirected it towards the two sitting across from me. I said nothing, but merely observed as they spoke with one another quietly about some practical joke they would pull on a "tono". Before I could wonder who they were referring to Glasses-sama approached the table with two other males; One incredibly short and adorable, the other incredibly tall and frightening.

"Ah, Dai-san. Nice to see you again." Glasses-sama says politely before addressing the blonde. "Sensei wanted me to give this to you, since you left class early." He stated while handing him a packet of papers.

The short boy hopped up and down before shouting "WHO'SYOURFRIEND?" to some one at the table. I assumed he was talking to either the twins or the brunette, whom of which I decided I'd address as "Disabled-boy" from now one, considering his awful condition with his vocal chords. My reasoning behind this assumption were Glasses-sama and Souh were still speaking to each other and Mr. Tall had just appeared along with him.

"Jose Enchilada." Disabled-boy answered, using the name I had previously given. The two in front of me made a "pfffft" noise, apparently trying to hold in laughter. Glasses-sama now turned to Shorty and said "Dai Aomori." annunciating the name well, completely dismissing Disabled-boy's previous response.

Shorty beamed cheerfully and I cringed from the bright aura blinding me. He was just _too_ happy that I was kind of freakish. None-the-less when he turned to me and grinned from ear to ear, my face seemed to constrict itself into a smile automatically. "HII'MHONEY." He blurted out like a bazooka of happiness. "WILLYOUBEMYFRIEND?".

It took a second for my brain to process what he was asking but I quickly understood and nodded. I didn't think it was possible, but his smile stretched further and he pounced onto my lap, hugging me tightly. "you'rereallynice." He told me, words still slurred together even though he was no longer shouting. "Thanks." I reply hesitantly, my social awkwardness suddenly kicking in.

"You look like a queer." The two amber haired boys said at the same time. Slightly freaked out by their timing, I just sent them a foul look. I heard the disabled boy cough out a "Like you're one to talk.". It was their turn to send him a dark look before continuing to mock me.

Blondie suddenly jumped up from where he was and stood on the table, only further demonstrating his idiocy. "I think it's time I introduce us." He practically sung. "I, am Tamaki Souh, the host club's king!"

Wait…host club? Was that some kind of Betty-Crocker-Wanna-Be club where they created mini cakes and decorated a room with bold arts and crafts so they could throw a "marvelous" party? The more I thought about it, the easier it was to picture every single one of these teens being in a club of that sort. They all appeared the type of freak that would like that stuff.

"This is Kyouya Ohtori, _Haninozuka Mitsukuni, Takashi Morinozuka, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin and Haruhi Fujioka_." He swung his hand in the direction each person and pointed dramatically, his enthusiasm not faltering once.

I nodded sternly, although not really remembering their names besides Honey, since he had been so straight forward about it and it was easy to not forget since it was American sounding, my forte. There was a silence for about a minute and I finally caught on that I was supposed to have responded. I rubbed my nose again before I droned out a bored "…'Sup?" Multiple gasps were heard all across the room and I realized that I seemed to have an audience; An unapproving audience at that.

I guess that my well thought out sentence wasn't appreciated and the student body didn't recognize the elegance and grace the word was doused in. In case you don't have a witty sense of humor, I'll spell it out for you. Not literally, you dunce, figuratively, of course. I was being sarcastic right there. I _do,_ in fact, realize that I could have congregated a charismatic reply but, where's the fun in that?

Not that I particularly enjoyed the furious and shameful glances from my piers but, still. I slipped out an awkward cough. As if on cue, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum began their chorused laughter, which lightened up the mood greatly. The atmosphere suddenly became a more humorous one and I heard a couple of people giggle.

This made me wonder. Were these kids like gods or something? It seems that anything they say goes with out any resistance. Quite a fucked up government they got going for them at this school.

"Is Dai-san going to become a host?" I heard a girl from behind me ask. I whipped my head around to face her. It was the teen from before, in Glasses-sama's class. A couple other girls began agreeing with her, nodded their heads fervently. Why would I join such a pointless club? I didn't like Betty Crocker! Also, I wasn't attractive which seemed to be the main qualification to this "host club". Personality appeared to be another factor, and I clearly didn't have a very out-going one. Well, I used to…but that was a long time ago and I cannot imagine myself back to that temper. What was I thinking anyways! There was no way they'd even consider me in the first place. They obviously didn't like me, based on how the twins mocked me and Blondie lectured me. Well, there was Honey, but I doubt Honey would outcast any one, based on his actions thus far.

"Interesting." Glasses-sama murmured while he slid a small notebook out of his blazers pocket and scribbled contents into it. I was suddenly aware of the paper in my hoodie pocket, crumpled and tattered. It was my schedule. I had the urge to pull it out a view it, checking which room I had next.

As I studied the paper in my clutches, I was bothered by hot breath tickling my neck for about two seconds before my observing was interrupted by an arm shooting out from either side of my body and grasping the schedule, slipping it slowly out of my now frozen hands. As quickly as it had happened, it ended. The pale arms withdrew back, the paper now with them. I turned around to see one of the offending twins reading my information curiously, the other hovering over Disabled Boy, laughing impishly.

My eyebrows furrowed again and I frowned immensely. "You could've asked ,you douche." I huffed angrily. He didn't acknowledge my comment what-so-ever, but instead continued to raid through my schedule from across the table, expression looking as if he was solving a difficult puzzle.

I puffed out my cheeks, fuming, as I stomped over to his side of the table, deflating my enormous cheeks as I approached him.

My goal was to obtain my schedule back. To my disdain, however, when I darted my hand out, he jerked the paper to a different location, though never flickering his gaze away from it. I tried again several times with the same result. My face transformed from one of anger into one of plea, and I stuck out my bottom lip, pouting like a two year old. I now tried to maneuver myself similar to how he had, coming up from behind and reaching out to grab it. However, he just extended his arm length further out. I proceeded to stretch as far as I could to grab the paper, now pressed against his back and head twisted painfully so that I could aim my line of vision at the paper with out his spiky amber hair poking me in the eye. My struggle was futile, however, because his arms were much longer then my own and I had around a foot longer until my finger tips would brush against the desired schedule. A whimper wavered in the air, coming from my own mouth.

In a flash, he was standing up. This, to me, was the perfect opportunity to finally succeed in what I had been attempting to do for well over 3 minutes now. Of course, when I jumped out to take it away, he simply raised it up higher. For the first time since he had originally thieved me of my much needed paper, he looked at me. His expression was mischievous as he grinned like a fox at me. I ignored his look and proceeded to jump up and down, reaching out for the schedule dangling above me. It was still no use but I, being as hard headed as always, continued in my vein acts.

He chuckled after watching me degrade myself for around two minutes or so before he finally lowered it, handing it to me with no resistance.

I smiled brilliantly and clutched the wrinkled material to my chest, codling it like a baby.

"All you had to do was ask for it." He said and sat back down. "YOU'RE AN ASS!" I hollered, realizing that I had, indeed, forgotten to ask just as he had said. "Besides, _you_ never asked if _you _could see it." I added hotly while returning back to my own seat.

"I had the ability to take it without asking. You didn't." he shot back. 'I hate him so much.' Crossed my mind but I suppressed the urge to vocalize such thoughts. Instead, I merely grunted while shoving the previously kidnapped paper back into my hoodie's pocket. "By the way, Sloppy Joe is not the best fragrance you've got going for you." he pointed out nonchalantly, eyes closed and arms making graceful sweeping motions with his hand as he did.

"Au contraire mon frère. I think it smells delightful." I reply, sticking my tongue out showing that I was still peeved. With that, I made an effort to end the tedious conversation by spinning back around to face the large doors of the dining area. "You know, you've got all the same classes as Hikaru and I. We're probably going to end up as your chauffer for any school activity." He continued. For some reason, this information upset me greatly. I huffed but other than that, gave no response. "Aw." I heard a feminine voice sigh as if making a comment on a puppy.

I looked up from the tile that I had originally been staring at intently only to find that I, once again, had an audience of the entire dining hall's population viewing me like a captive, caged animal. I guess I was similar to a gorilla in many ways, now.

No doubt this group of people had also observed quietly the acts just minutes before. This information upset me further than the last did. "Dai-san is so adorable when he's angry." The same feminine voice continued.

A "hmm" sound came from Kyouya and more scribbling was heard but, other than that, the room was silent. My eye twitched. My life was not like some movie for other people! These piers of mine were seriously unnerving me.

I heard a light toned, pansy of a bell go off, signally the end of lunch period. The phrase "saved by the bell" entered my mind, but it quickly dissipated when I had the task of maneuvering through the stream of courteous teenagers to place myself in my next, most likely boring as hell class.

I prayed to the trees that I wouldn't have to deal with the malicious twin bothering me again, but other than that, focused on the sounds of the hallways, enveloping me in a sea of clashing melodies.


End file.
